When an actor plays a role in a movie, they typically do a little research into their character. Some may even get some real-world experience in the character’s profession, but I can’t imagine that many actor’s have gone to mortician school. According to Empire, that’s precisely what Willem Dafoe did in preparation for Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things.

Willem Dafoe plays Dr. Godwin Baxter in Poor Things, an eccentric scientist who brings Bella Baxter (Emma Stone) back to life. Along with Ramy Youssef, Dafoe went to mortician school to get some experience slicing, stitching, and all the things one needs to bring a dead body back to life. “It was like: ‘Mark’s going to accent class, Emma is going to dance class, and then me and Willem are going to hang with the mortician, and we’ll link back up at lunch’,” Youssef said. “It felt like a college campus.